The 18-250mm’s compact size is likely to give it particular appeal for those who want an easy-to-carry all-purpose lens. However, in the middle of 2008 Tamron brought out an 18-270mm lens with in-built vibration compensation, which is an all-round better zoom (albeit a costlier one). This 18-250mm is simply a smaller, lighter and more affordable option.

We tend not to expect much from "vacation" zooms, so were pleasantly surprised by the Tamron 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II LD Aspherical IF Macro AF. It maintained good center sharpness across its entire focal length range, softness in the corners was average to better than average, and things flattened out nicely when we stopped it down just a bit. Other optical characteristics are in line with the...